Another Australian tax development caught my eye recently. This was the announcement of tax cuts for craft brewers – the third time in less than a year that the Australian Government has announced tax concessions for the brewing industry. Well, it has been a tough few years for governments of both political stripes in Oz, I suppose.

There’s also an election to be fought soon. And what better way is there to ingratiate yourself with the electorate than to help cut the price of the nation’s favorite tipple? Yes, I know, cynical old me returns!

But there could also be another trend emerging here. It probably went largely unnoticed, but the TCJA included provisions to temporarily extended tax cuts for beverage makers, from brewers, to vintners and distillers. Then, in February 2019, a bipartisan bill was introduced in the Senate that would permanently reduce these taxes.

What’s going on here? Why has the beverage industry suddenly acquired so much influence over policy makers? Is it that policy makers are indeed under the influence? Is this a cunning new way to distract us from corporate tax reductions? If so, I’ll drink to that.

For more information on this, and other topical international tax matters, please visit: https://www.cchgroup.com/roles/corporations/international-solutions/research/global-tax-weekly-a-closer-look

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